Same Difference Arts

I have been at Kirkgate Leeds Market twice in the last week, working with children on marvellous Halloween creations. Firstly on the Saturday for Same Difference Arts making Halloween monsters out of paper, and then on Tuesday helping with Playful Anywhere with the crafts.

SaturdayHalloween Monsters – the first photo are the prototypes I created, and the next three are samples of what the children created. I really love the pumpkin, that face looks wonderful.

I had a wonderful helper for an hour or so, a young boy of 8. He learnt quickly how to make the pom poms, and offered to show others. He fetched things for me, and kept me entertained with his stories, introducing me to his little sister, and telling me about his family – he can speak four languages, but only three fluently! I was so impressed with his attitude, I asked him to point out his mother, and I simply had to let her know what a lovely helpful son she had, he was an absolute star!

Above – Create a Spooky Story, using story cubes. If you don’t have any cubes with pictures on, you can create your own with standard dice and a selection sheet, this is the spooky one I made (opens as a PDF).

This is my second drop in workshop at Kirkgate Market in Leeds (organised by Same Difference Arts), after leading one making Pop-Up Puppets in Easter earlier this year. As before, I got to work alongside Miranda Johnson, who is a fabulous face painter, really approachable and I fully recommend her.

I chose to do two simple activities, aimed at families with younger children, loosely themed around carnival – decorating hummingbirds and creating masquerade masks. The masks proved the most popular, and we went with the big reveal – the wonderful painted face underneath – not one, but two fabulous masks!

Oh, and it is Yorkshire Day on 1st August, so the White Rose of Yorkshire was flying on flags across the market, along with lots of flat cap wearing individuals, breaking the record for the most people wearing a flat cap in one place!

Below is a selection of photos showing the marvellous creations that the children made. I do think the zebra mask revealing the tiger painted face is one of my faves, simply for the animal theme. But, having said that, I think they are all equally wonderful, and I do so enjoy listening to the children’s stories and hearing how much they love creating at home.